What really makes a tickling story work for you?

This the flip side of the 'other' thread.

I've posted a lot of stories here over the years and read a lot more so here are the things that work for me. Let's face it, the purpose of tick-fic is really to get off. I know when I'm writing I'm hoping I make the reader want to lock the door and 'delight themselves' for a few minutes while they read.

Character dynamics
I love it when a writer sets up the characters first before jumping into the action. Captain Sticky wrote a short story recently where a young, female reporter was writing about the tickling fetish and went to visit an older guy who was a devotee. She was researching but also curious and nervous. He was willing to show her and was aroused and loving his luck. It wasn't epically long but he gave me enough to go on before he got to the tickling. It's the appetiser before the main course (and if we're lucky there's some sweet cherry pie for dessert! )

Show us the reactions and the inner dialogue
I really enjoy getting immersed in the mental side of the story - the ticklee's wide-eyed, nervous, panting and laughter, how she feels as she anticipates, experiences and then contemplates the tickling as well as her tickler's excitement, deviousness or playfulness (or wickedness) as he indulges. I'm using M/F example here as that has always been my preferred dynamic in stories.

Getting there is half the fun
I said in the other thread I don't like stories which start off with a ticklee tied naked and ready. Having the ticklee strip or be stripped is always a hot build up and can also show a tickler exercising total control. A ticklee feeling the lace on their shoe pulled open. the sound of a boot being unzipped etc are all literary Sriracha to me.

The little details matter
This one is harder to quantify. I've been guilty of going overboard on detail before but sometimes a writer catches it just right. The late Irving Krebb (RIP) wrote a Samantha Storm tickle story once and in one moment where she is given a break from tickling she is blowing out of the corner of her mouth to move a stray lock of hair that fell across her face as she was struggling. If you've ever had the fortune to tickle someone for real, you know what these moments are like. The unscripted detail - it's hard to capture and half the time I wonder if the writer even knows they did it because it's gold dust.

Taking the handbrake off
It took me a while to work up the courage for this one but when I started writing here I was self-censoring to a degree as I didn't want to offend anyone so I toned down sexual elements etc. Then I got around to writing a story where I threw everything at it and wrote a very self-indulgent, highly sexual story and half-expected to get hounded off the forum for being such a pervert. It ended up being my most popular story at the time. So I like it when I can see a writer is writing for themselves and if anyone else likes it, that's just a bonus. I also know that for some people, adding sexual elements can kill the story for them as they just want tickling so it's horses for courses. One writer I is great at doing this is TickleMantis who seems to appear once a year and post a short novel for our pleasure.

OK - so there's a few from me. What makes a story pop you and has you reaching to bookmark/save it for future re-reading?

Oh!

When somehow the author finds a way to crawl inside my head and place my hidden desires into words that even I have not dared to articulate.

It doesn't matter if the words are woven through the lee's perspective or the ler's.
It's that magic (it's really imagery) that I can barely explain, but it makes me catch my breath and reread a sentence or an entire paragraph or the entire story.

Like when I read a story by a certain new writer (new to me) who had a scene in it describing a particular way that the ler tickled the lee's bellybutton. And I have NEVER read it in a story before, but had been craving it since the last time the hubby did it in the same intense, devastating way. Ugh... Reading it in the story just destroyed me. I had to read it again and again and again.

SO yeah.... I love stories that I can see myself in or when I fall for the character or feel for the character or HATE the character intensely....

I want to live in stories, and tickle stories are not different.

But I've always been an avid reader, and I am a published author, so.... I like stories that get me all caught up.

Thanks for this.
Sunny

When the lee is crazy ticklish, its TORTURE, but they love it. When the lers tickling is RUTHLESS but their verbal play is flirty, soothing, and playful. I64EVER, is one of my fav writers.

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Sunriseticklee said:

Oh!


Like when I read a story by a certain new writer (new to me) who had a scene in it describing a particular way that the ler tickled the lee's bellybutton. And I have NEVER read it in a story before, but had been craving it since the last time the hubby did it in the same intense, devastating way. Ugh... Reading it in the story just destroyed me. I had to read it again and again and again.

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Oh boy, can you remember the name of that story? I'd love to read that. Good belly button tickling is hard to find!

This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but here we go.

Are they having fun? If the answer is yes then that’s my kind of story.

There’s nothing in a story I enjoy more than a loving couple being playful with each other. Someone just getting tickled out of their mind and secretly enjoying it runs a close second.

Suikoden, your Saturday Night Special trilogy is my all time favorite. You have an average guy in a chance encounter with the woman of his dreams. If that happened to any one of us, it’d be a night we would remember for the rest of our lives.

Why does Sam go along with it? I’ve long suspected she likes being tickled when it’s done properly.

At the end you manage this wizardry of making us want more, but at the same time it’s enough.

HallKogan said:

This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but here we go.

Are they having fun? If the answer is yes then that’s my kind of story.

There’s nothing in a story I enjoy more than a loving couple being playful with each other. Someone just getting tickled out of their mind and secretly enjoying it runs a close second.

Suikoden, your Saturday Night Special trilogy is my all time favorite. You have an average guy in a chance encounter with the woman of his dreams. If that happened to any one of us, it’d be a night we would remember for the rest of our lives.

Why does Sam go along with it? I’ve long suspected she likes being tickled when it’s done properly.

At the end you manage this wizardry of making us want more, but at the same time it’s enough.

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Thanks mate - that's a fave of mine too.

I can see you like the fun tickle-date type stories too and that comes across in your own writing.

Ah, a positive thread!

Well, what really makes a story work for me is detail. The more the merrier. Paint that picture so that you can envision it as though you were a fly on the wall. Whether your story is a 1 paragraph story, or 400 pages. I love stories that create a world for you to go to and just "live there".

There are so many great authors out here that do that and I love them all. From Tamira, to TickleMantis, to TQLR, to even old school Dave2112 (I wish he left his stories up, the man was a genius with stories),, they all create wonderful worlds for everyone to enjoy. Suikoden, your stuff is brilliant as well.

Sunrise, exactly your sentiment. Escapism is the best part of reading a story, just like with non-tickling stories. The ability to leave this "earthly plane" and live in the other worlds is what make stories the best medium to me.

Believe it or not I AGREE

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primetime said:

There are so many great authors out here that do that and I love them all. From Tamira, to TickleMantis, to TQLR, to even old school Dave2112 (I wish he left his stories up, the man was a genius with stories),, t

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Truth! I remember he wrote a story about a date with Yenny! I started that but never finished it. Would love to find that one if it's around.

I agree with your comment entirely and thanks for the props! Right back atcha!

suikoden said:

Thanks mate - that's a fave of mine too.

I can see you like the fun tickle-date type stories too and that comes across in your own writing.

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Thank you, that’s what I strive for. ‘Gimme A T’ is my personal favorite of my stories.

Well done, @suikoden! I was pondering whether to post this as an antidote to the other thread but you got in there first!

I would say the elements that make a story work for me are…

Originality
That’s originality of plot and, to a certain extent, originality of storytelling. I like to see a storyline I’ve not read before. If I have seen the basic premise before, it needs to be told in an original manner.

Polish
Not everybody needs to be the Charles Dickens of the TMF story world, but a sense that some thought and care have been put into the story, the dialogue, and the linguistics of the piece helps me to enjoy it all the more.

Motivation
Realism is a large and necessary ingredient for me. That doesn’t rule out fantasy stories, but they need to be grounded in some basic truths, and motivation is one thing that really needs to be nailed correctly if a story is to work. An easy and valid shorthand for any character to tickle another is that they have a tickling fetish. But if it’s being done by someone without the fetish, his/her reasons for doing it really need to be explored and sold to me. If you can do that well, I’m hooked!

Chemistry
The interaction between the characters is vital. This may be more of a female mindset (guys: feel free to tell me I’m wrong), but I want electricity between the tickler and ticklee, whether it be anything from animosity to love, which merges into my next point…

Great characters
I’m heartened by the number of people on that other thread who enjoy character development. Physical descriptions are not a substitute for character, which is something that the best writers can reveal in a number of different ways. Memorable and original characters are what make a story memorable. You can have the best plot concept in the world, but if the characters you put into that world are two-dimensional, the story will flop.

The verbal teasing and the nails

idolfan05 said:

The verbal teasing and the nails

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Funny you mention this. I love the verbal teasing too. I love it when it's well done in clips. Sometimes I'll see something in a clip and think - I have to convey that in a story. Watching Tasha from Tickle Abuse work an oiled female body with her nails was always a thrill. I tried to think how to get that feeling across in a story. Good stuff!

Interactions and teasing. A real story that the tickling is a major part of, but a real story of interaction.

To me I love it when the tickling aspect isn't revealed too soon. Like, you know it's coming if you're reading it here (ha ha), but sometimes otherwise fantastic stories I think are spoiled when the tickling turn is revealed too soon. Like "so and so always had a thing for tickling" or "so and so was always dreadfully ticklish," and so on. Build up to it. Don't spoil it so quickly!

So yes, when the tickling or ticklishness part comes later, and is almost a surprise, that to me is a mark of a great t-fiction writer!

Since everyone is giving examples, I want to share my favorite tickle story of all time. It's an oldie, and it's the one that I find myself reading over and over again. I have read it countless times over the past 15 years or so.

ASYLUM 7
By Shadowtklr

I lose myself completely in the magic of the story, and the main character's curiosity, tenacity, and tickle lust are the reasons why she cannot ever escape. One questions if she ever truly wanted to.

I seem to relate to several characters, including the Mistress of the Asylum. And I want the protagonists to win and to lose. Same with the antagonist....

I love fantasy and magical elements within a story. And I never grow tired of reading this one.

BlindTickleS said:

You hit most of the points I would have made in your initial post, including all of the technical pieces. Setting the scene, immersive details, character-focused perspectives, etc.
The piece that keeps me coming back for more is enthusiastic consent. Don’t get me wrong, a story where a person is tickled non-consensually can still get me, especially if they discover something about themselves and find it is something they would welcome again.
There are three recent stories that hit the right buttons for me.
Stuck In The Machine, where a Neko girl buys a tickle machine, but it malfunctions. She loves the tickling, then it becomes a legitimate ordeal, but she decides to buy a fixed machine, with all the bells and whistles, because the experience was so exhilarating.
I can’t remember the exact title, Olivia’s feet out a car window? It’s simple, she has a fantasy of an older woman tickling her feet out a car window, so she puts herself in a position to fulfill it. The magic for me is in her efforts to avoid pulling her feet away so she doesn’t give the impression that she wants it to stop. She even pushes a little closer and flips on her stomach to allow the tickler full access, and for herself to laugh with abandon. That dynamic is kryptonite to me.
Tickle Monsters in the woods. A young man has heard tales of the tickle monsters that come out at night, so he seeks them out. This one just misses for me because he wanted a night of merciless tickling, which he got, but then they just kidnap him to be their new tickle toy. That soured the story for me.
This is subjective and personal to me, but I figure that that’s what this thread is about!

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That one is actually one of my faves from BuckWild. I wish he did a sequel to that.

My mood for tickling stories changes with the wind sometimes. But something I've been into lately is */M tickling (not M/M, but older F/younger M or monster/M where the lee is stripped naked, tickled methodically place to place, taunted the entire time, with a buildup to intense genital tickling (where it actually tickles). I don't want to say that Tickle Monsters in the Forest did it the BEST, but hit all the boxes so perfectly that I can't help but point to that as a template.

My all time favorite story that I've read is Delphi by Iishieboo. I love the characters. I love the setting. I love the build up. Of course, I love the sexual torture aspect of it. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. I like the way this story ends, where a reader can imagine up for themselves what might happen next.

I personally like stories with fantasy elements. I like to imagine different worlds where all sorts of wild things might happen!

I like when a story gives a little build up about who the characters are and what's going on. I don't need or want pages upon pages of that, but enough to start getting me immersed in the story before the action kicks off.

My personal favorite themes are: non-con or dub-con, falling into traps and being tricked, ruthless ticklers, monster ticklers, edging, some humiliation, and forms of "bad endings" where the lee can never escape. I write what I love, since I wasn't finding enough stories that hit everything perfectly for me. I'm excited that I got mentioned on this thread! (I am still writing, but it's been slow due to some crap in my life lately.)

If anyone has some good recommendations for me to read, send 'em my way! I haven't read nearly enough tickle smut recently.

I only read (and formerly wrote) f/f stories, and my #1 favorite scenario is the female tickler getting sexually aroused as she tickle tortures her victim.

Yes! I like the positivity in the headline. Thank you suikoden!

Interesting to see that most of the responses here seem to be similar. So yeah… what makes a tickling story really pop for me isn’t too much different from what captures my attention in any story in any genre — an evocative tone/mood, an attention to character and “world-building” (using the latter term in its broadest sense), hitting that right balance between showing and telling , details that can pull a reader in without overwhelming or distracting them. I don’t need elaborate psychological/emotional motivation in my tickling fiction, but I do like some kind of story or plot. I like when the writer takes their time with the set-up, and I REALLY like a writer who seems to know how much set-up is too much set-up and when it’s time to move to the “action” (and I wish I knew that secret; I feel my own work spends too much time on the set-up).

Standard stuff, I know, but getting all that right isn’t easy (but it needs to look effortless).

Oh… mechanics. Spelling, line breaks, grammar, punctuation… All that boring middle-school English class stuff? It’s important. I’ll forgive a few typos, but few things pull me out of a story more quickly than these kinds of errors. Makes me think the writer didn’t care.

Someone… maybe it was in the “other” thread… said they liked an image or picture with the story. I commissioned several images for this massive multi-part epic I posted here once upon a time. Primarily, I thought it would be a cool/fun thing to do (and it was, and the results were great), but I also wanted to give any reader who stuck with the whole damn thing (as I said, it was a monster) a little something to grab on to to keep track of all the important characters, etc. But I had some misgivings, and feared I’d get people checking out the images rather than reading the story (egotistical? Maybe. But I’m a writer; I want readers). Maybe that happened, but the responses I got — posted and private — focused primarily on the writing and the story.

So… I think I lost the thread of the point I was trying to make here… maybe it’s that any writer who feels stories come in second (or third) to all the visual material available here can take heart in knowing there are a lot more people than you realize who appreciate what you do. They “get it.”

Anyway… not sure I added to much to the discussion (or justified bumping this thread), but I wanted to say something.

I’ve said this before somewhere here, but as someone whose predilection for “our thing” on the TMF pre-dates the internet, I’m sometimes struck by how “spoiled” I’ve become by the plethora of tickling fiction available here. Years ago, a single sentence in one of those awful Gor books about a woman being bound and tickled kept me entertained for a month. Now, I have certain authors I gravitate towards, I can pick-and-choose what I’d like to read, etc. Beats the hell out of furtively scanning the contents page of “Penthouse Variations” at the news stand.

But that’s enough outta me…

Thanks suikoden.